Film office aims to lure more movie productions to Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama’s largest city is opening a new film office in hopes of luring more movie productions to the area.

Film Birmingham is now officially open for business after operating behind the scenes for more than a year, Al.com reported.

Film Birmingham, an initiative of Create Birmingham, is planning to launch a website targeting the film industry.

Instead of focusing on big-budget movies like Atlanta does, Birmingham will focus on recruiting small-to-midsize productions, officials said.

“There is opportunity for Birmingham to be positioned to receive some overflow from Atlanta,” Create Birmingham President and CEO Buddy Palmer said.

Film Birmingham is seeking $100,000 in funding from the city of Birmingham to help support the initiative.

“We see this as an opportunity to attract more films to the city and continue to push Birmingham to the world stage while tapping into this industry,” Birmingham Mayor William Bell said in a statement to AL.com.

The mayor’s office has been vocal in its effort to recruit more film production to Birmingham. Late last year, actor Wesley Snipes visited Birmingham City Hall as part of that effort.

So far, the Birmingham office has operated based on referrals from the Alabama Film Office, Palmer said.

After receiving a referral, Film Birmingham puts together a photography package of sites in the Birmingham area that could meet filmmakers’ needs, he said. The film office will lead scout expedition of sites and serve as a liaison between the filmmakers and the communities or municipal governments, Palmer said.